A wrasse for Nick.
6 hour charter for first sailing, with Nick, Nick Joe and John. Nick and Joe had shared a couple of shore based and one boat based adventure with me previously, but other Nick and John (who as a recent father rarely gets to take a day out fishing at the moment, something that will strike a chord with many) were new to me. The previous days swell, and more important rain, meant that the inshore was still quite coloured. Our only option was the outer reefs, which worried me a bit as up until very recently, often they were barren of anything. But I need not have worried. Because time has happened. And seasons are most definitely changing.
The most obvious change was that the wrasse fishing has picked up. From my experiences, the best of the wrasse fishing on our reefs is in December / January. They had been sadly missing on all my outer reef pokes the previous month. But today, they were there, and in the mood. As were the squid. After a couple of pecks on his shad, Joe swapped it over for an Egi (squid jig) right on the bottom of the tide. And it wasnt long before he had the first squid ever landed on BIF1. This is the signal to arrange squid trips however, as many people delight in fishing for these extremely tasty creatures. If that sounds like you, call 07970 112774 to arrange a reservation.
A solitary cuttle joined the livebait well, as did a succession of quality mackerel. Just a week before, it is likely a determined angler with good egi skills might have taken a hundred cuttle in six hours. Another seasonal change. Do the cuttle make way for the squid? As their feeding habits and quarry are quite similar. I will perhaps delay my slavic language studies, to lean cuttle and bass instead...
More wrasse followed, as did a trickle of spirited tub gurnards. Nick managed a Scad to add to the list. The odd schoolie interspersed. (bass counter sat on 8, but we were not really bassing). After a good while, I noticed that each drift revealed less and less marks. The fish were drifting off the mark. So, I pushed along to another reef. Here, less fish, a few schoolies and a wrasse I seem to remember. So, for the last hour of the session, I pushed inshore where the viz was much improved. Lots of bait and fish, and bass were amongst them. But mostly we were landing mackerel. And thats where the session ended.
Nick, Joe and John had enjoyed it so much, they booked to stay for the next and final sailing, to be joined by the other regular fly boy called John. However, we came out to a much changed sea. A short choppy swell. Not conducive to good lure or fly fishing. And with the wind and sea increasing, we all agreed to abandon and call it a day.